ceiling effect such that they are unable to grow even with the addition of a potentially cultivating activity. However, prior research found that people with higher initial levels of mindfulness experienced greater effects, which included an increase in mindfulness, from the mindfulness- based interventions in which they participated (Shapiro, Brown, Thoresen, & Plante, 2011).
Moreover, due to the study design, confounding variables (i.e., any variables other than running and participation in other mindfulness-based activities) could have led to such changes in mindfulness levels. Further, the study did not involve the implementation of a specific mindfulness-based intervention, which is what has been shown to be the catalyst for such an effect (Shapiro, Brown, Thoresen, & Plante, 2011). Research has suggested that there may be gender differences in regard to outcomes of mindfulness-based interventions, such as affective health (Kang, Rahrig, Eichel, Niles, Rocha, Lepp, Gold, & Britton, 2018). Therefore, it may be beneficial to include gender as a predictor variable in future research. Additionally, socio- economic status might be an interesting construct to control for, provided that children and adolescents from differing backgrounds have different opportunities for experiences that might serve to cultivate trait mindfulness.
In a follow-up analysis, it was found that these individuals with lower preliminary mindfulness scores (less than 35) who were also non-runners experienced significantly greater change in mindfulness scores than runners who had lower preliminary mindfulness scores.
Although both runners and non-runners with lower pre-running-period mindfulness scores experienced increases in trait mindfulness levels at the post-running period, this finding suggests that running activity itself was not a predictor of higher mindfulness scores, which was also found in the preliminary regression analysis. Such a result is also fairly surprising given the literature on the connection between mindfulness and exercise, and in particular, aerobic
exercise. For example, Ulmer, Stetson, and Salmon (2010) found that exercisers who were successful in maintaining exercise scored higher in both mindfulness and acceptance, both at statistically significant levels. In addition, Mothes, Klaperski, Schmidt, and Fuchs (2014) found in a controlled experiment that an exercise group, who participated in an outdoor running training, had significantly higher levels of mindfulness after the intervention than the non-
exercising control groups, and that there was no difference between the mindfulness levels of the relaxation group and the waitlist control. Conversely, some researchers argue that running may foster negative thoughts that cause pain and also interfere with running form (De Petrillo, Kaufman, Glass, and Arnkoff, 2009). The design of the current study does not lend itself to determining whether the latter was true for the participants.
The second hypothesis that the amount of running would be positively correlated with trait mindfulness scores was not supported from the regression analysis. This was somewhat surprising, based on the literature that shows the more time someone spends in an exercise activity, the more mindful he or she is (Kangasniemi, Lappalainen, Kankaanpää, and Tammelin, 2014). Further, it has been found that people who regularly exercise over time report higher levels of trait mindfulness than those who do not (Ulmer, Stetson, and Salmon, 2010). Therefore, it was thought that those who ran more frequently and consistently throughout the 6-week
period, rather than missing days of weeks, would report higher levels of mindfulness. However, previous studies that have implemented mindfulness-based interventions have commonly utilized an 8-week time period, likely because the original MBSR program was designed to run for eight weeks (History of MBSR, 2016), and therefore it is possible that 6 weeks was not long enough to elicit any changes in mindfulness levels. More research is warranted on running specifically in order to make a more confident determination about the relationship. Furthermore, research is
lacking with adolescent populations in this area. Though adolescents are at a stage in their cognitive development wherein mindfulness could be cultivated, it is less likely that this trait is strengthened without the introduction of mindfulness practice. The literature discusses
mindfulness interventions with youth populations and the explicit teaching that is involved in this novel skill. Trait mindfulness, though innate, is often strengthened through repeated mindfulness practice over time (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Thompson & Waltz, 2007). Therefore, adolescents likely do not have the amount of exposure necessary to mindfulness-cultivating activities to increase levels trait mindfulness.
The final hypothesis stated that the presence of music while running would be negatively correlated with trait mindfulness. It was found that those who never listen to music while running had significantly higher levels of post-running-period mindfulness compared with those who listen to music sometimes, often, almost always, or always, thus supporting this hypothesis. This finding is consistent with research on music listening and running. Specifically, although people report that running is more enjoyable with the addition of music, they also experience
dissociation under these conditions (Jones, Karageorghis, Ekkekakis, 2014; Hutchinson, Karageorghis, and Jones, 2015). Dissociation utilizes stories, narratives, and other cognitive activities to divert attention away from the discomfort associated with somatic cues during running. The opposite of this strategy, association, is often used by elite runners, and it means that they direct their attention to the running-related somatic cues and utilize this sensory information to inform their level of effort (Salmon, Hanneman, Harwood, 2010), which has parallels with the characteristics of mindfulness, namely the attendance to and awareness of the present experience in a non-judgmental way (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Thus,
when individuals do not listen to music while running, they are less likely to dissociate and more likely to engage in association and similarly experience higher levels of mindfulness.
This finding also supports the existing literature on the integration of music into
mindfulness practice, which states that music accompaniment during mindfulness practice does not elicit a significant difference in mindful awareness over time (Tomaselli, 2014; Kowarz, 2015). Another study found that, through the implementation of a six-week mindful music listening intervention, participants experienced increases in mindfulness scores over time (Lesiak, 2017). This suggests that there needs to be an intentionality of mindfulness practice, which is then applied to the activity, which in this case was music-listening, for a change in mindfulness to exist. Therefore, it begs the question: would direct teaching of mindfulness before running activity influence mindfulness levels over time?
Study Limitations
The current study was designed to minimize threats to its reliability and validity.
However, there are still notable limitations to address. Primarily, there are concerns with population validity in regard to generalizability. While the researcher intended to elicit participation from schools from across upstate and western New York, all were from Central New York State, which is demographically limiting. For example, the district is located in a town with a median household income of $71,158, and 9% of people live below the poverty line. Due to the nature of convenience sampling rather than random sampling, it is difficult to generalize results to the larger population. Further, the sample size consisted of predominantly Caucasian participants (88%), followed by mixed race (5.6%), Hispanic (3%), Asian or Pacific Islander (1.9%), Black or African American (1.1%), and other (0.4%). Such a pattern of demographic characteristics is not reflective of the overall racial diversity of the state. The United States
Census Department states that 63.3% of New York’s residents are Caucasian, 15.7% are Black or African American, < 1% are American Indian and Alaska Native, 8.5% are Asian, and 3.3%
identify as multiracial (US Census Bureau, 2019). The racial diversity of New York reflects the overall diversity of the United States, as well. Therefore, future research should consider a more diverse student population in order to generalize the findings to a wider population of
adolescents.
A second limitation is that the study relied exclusively on self-report data. One way in which self-report surveys are limiting is that there is potential for social desirability to drive the participants’ responding. Furthermore, the respondents’ introspective ability may make it difficult to assess themselves accurately, especially on a trait that is not commonly examined such as mindfulness. Another difficulty with self-report surveys is that Likert scales are sometimes difficult to accurately portray one’s perspectives, thus leading to potentially misrepresented findings.
Another limitation that presents a threat to internal validity is participant attrition. There were 494 responses on the pre-running-period survey and only 316 responses on the post- running-period survey. The survey was completed at the same time of the day in the same
classrooms. Since the implementation was monitored by the classroom teachers, the reasons as to why some students did not participate in the post-running-period survey are unknown.
Finally, though the study design was a combination of retrospective and quasi- experimental, it can be challenging to control all extraneous variables that may influence the raters’ mindfulness levels. Consequently, there may be other factors that instill this trait that are not accounted for in the demographic form. More exploratory research may be warranted for determining additional influences on adolescents’ trait mindfulness. An additional limitation
pertaining to the study’s design is that it was not a true experiment such that the “intervention”
was not controlled. The “intervention” was the pre-existing cross-country running season, which was a known timeframe in which there would be increased time spent running for some students.
There was no prescribed intervention, nor was there an intentionality of mindfulness application to the running activity. For adolescents especially, such may be a key component in facilitating the cultivation of trait mindfulness. Lastly, was no way of monitoring running participation, and the data resulted from self-reports. There was also no random assignment of participants into groups. In light of some of these limitations, future research considerations are discussed later in the chapter.
Implications for the field of School Psychology
Within the realm of a school psychologist’s position is the responsibility to provide children and families with resources that can help to foster overall well-being. Sometimes, school psychologists are called upon to search for and disseminate information on the latest research on the most effective practices for successful academic and social-emotional
functioning. Other times, they can lead interventions themselves and monitor the progress and outcomes to inform the field of novel, effective practices. Mindfulness interventions have gained momentum in the field and have been implemented with children in the school setting. Programs have targeted anxiety and depression (Raes, Griffith, Van der Gucht, Williams, 2014), resiliency and stress (Gould, Dariotis, Mendelson, Greensburg, 2012; Greenberg and Harris, 2012; Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, Walach, 2014), negative emotionality (Klingbeil, Renshaw, Willenbrink, Copek, Tai Chan, Haddock, Yassine, Clifton, 2017; Zoogman, Goldberg, Hoyt, Miller, 2015), and body image (Atkinson & Wade, 2015). They can also offer improvements in more academic and social concerns including cognitive performance (Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, Walach, 2014);
academic achievement, school functioning, externalizing and internalizing problems, prosocial behavior, peer acceptance (Klingbeil et al., 2017; Schonert-Reichl, Oberle, Lawlor, Abbott, Thomson, Oberlander, Diamond, 2015); and academic engagement (Felver, Felver, Margolis, Ravitch, Romer, Horner, 2017). Future research on the topic of the present study can help to inform practice such that, if limitations were addressed and significant results were found, running may be used as an avenue for mindfulness cultivation. School psychologists could implement a running group with students as an after-school program, which would also contribute to the efforts in fostering good physical health among children and adolescents.
This knowledge can also help to inform school psychologists about ways in which they can contribute to Positive Youth Development (PYD) efforts. According to Moore (2017), PYD is a set of practices that is designed to instill one or more positive outcomes. Sometimes, this can involve the implementation of a certain program. For example, Girls on the Run and Heart and Sole are two running-based PYD programs that have established chapters throughout the country. School psychologists may choose to be coaches for the program and could use the findings of the present study, namely that refraining from listening to music while running is associated with higher trait mindfulness, to integrate into their lessons. A new running program that integrates mindfulness could be developed and follow a similar format to the existing PYD programs.
Lastly, the study may provide insight for psychologists who are looking to develop a more holistic approach to treatment. In the twenty-first century, it is challenging to treat people psychologically without also taking into consideration their physical and spiritual well-being (Robbins, 1998). Connecting the mind and body in medicine has been studied since the late 1960’s, when it was found that it is possible to calm the body by quieting the mind (Casey,
Benson, MacDonald, 2004). Since then, this knowledge has been used in helping people with physiological improvements, such as increased immune response to vaccinations and reduced inflammation (Morgan, Irwin, Chung, Wang, 2014), improved static balance in older adults (Chen, Zhang, Wang, & Liu, 2016), improved cognitive functioning in adults with mild cognitive impairment (Zou, Loprinzi, Yeung, Zeng, &Huang, 2019), and improved cardiovascular health (Casey, Benson, MacDonald, 2004) through mind-body therapies.
Psychological benefits from exercise have already been discussed. Research has begun to
explore the integration of mind and body through interventions in the schools. Pearrow and Jones (2020) discussed a program called LAUGH Time, which uses an art-based approach to
mindfulness to increase social-emotional well-being and cultivate resilience. The mind-body connection was activated in students through attending to breathing patterns and creating digital art with their fingers. For school psychologists, this area of study lends itself to collaboration with families, but also with art teachers and physical education teachers. There is potential for these school professionals to come together to implement programs such as LAUGH Time, or develop novel programs or curriculums to help support students holistically.
Future Research
Considering the mixed findings of the present study, future research should consider altering the design to reflect more of a true experiment in order to decrease threats to validity and to be able to infer more of a causal relationship between the variables. For example, participants should be randomly assigned to either the running or comparison group. Since the time spent running was not found to be a significant predictor of mindfulness change, the running group could be assigned a uniform amount of running in order to further exercise control over the conditions. Running activity should also be more closely monitored to ensure the integrity of the
intervention. Groups could also be further delineated based on the additional variable of listening to music while running, such that one running group would be required to listen to music while running, while the other running group would be denied listening to music while running, again to gain more control over the experiment, but also to confirm the significant findings of the present study.
Given the previous literature on pre-exposure to mindfulness practice, it may also be valuable for future research to integrate mindfulness lessons prior to, or along with, the running intervention. Further, the running intervention could be thought of as a “mindful running”
intervention, wherein participants apply mindfulness techniques while engaging in running activity. Such an approach exists and was conducted in a study with twenty-five recreational long-distance runners, who ranged from 18 to 55 years of age. The mindfulness training involved techniques drawn from Kabat-Zinn’s MBCT, with a walking meditation that was modified to be relevant for long-distance runners. The protocol explained the usefulness of mindfulness in overcoming distractibility, poor running form, pain, and fatigue associated with the repetitive and arduous nature of running. Though there was not a significant difference between the groups found in levels of trait or state mindfulness, both groups experienced significant increases in mindfulness over time. Limitations that were discussed include length of the intervention and sample size, and it was suggested that participant recruitment happen through cross-country teams (De Petrillo, et al., 2009). Therefore, an integration of elements from the De Petrillo et al.
(2009) study, as well as the present study, might lend itself to more significant results.
Summary
Research has shown that mindfulness interventions for youth can be effective in improving attention problems, state and trait anxiety, depressive symptoms, perceived stress,
quality of life, and somatic symptoms (Biegel, Brown, Shapiro, Schubert, 2009; Semple, Lee, Rosa, Miller, 2009; Zack, Saekow, Kelly, Radke, 2014). School-based mindfulness interventions have also demonstrated improvements in more academic and social concerns including cognitive performance (Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, Walach, 2014); academic achievement, school
functioning, externalizing and internalizing problems, prosocial behavior, peer acceptance (Klingbeil et al., 2017; Schonert-Reichl, Oberle, Lawlor, Abbott, Thomson, Oberlander,
Diamond, 2015); and academic engagement (Felver, Felver, Margolis, Ravitch, Romer, Horner, 2017). While many youth participants express acceptance and enjoyment of mindfulness
programs after participation (Felver, Felver, Margolis, Ravitch, Romer, Horner, 2017; Lee, Semple, Rosa, Miller, 2008; Zenner, Herrnelben-Kurz, Walach, 2014), some report that the meditation was “boring” (Britton, Lepp, Niles, Rocha, Fisher, Gold, 2014; Milligan, Badali, Spiroiu, 2015). Therefore, it is useful to explore other activities that might increase one’s trait mindfulness. In fact, exercise has been shown to lead to mindfulness as an outcome, and to elicit other benefits in conjunction with mindfulness practice (Mothes, Klaperski, Seelig, Schmidt, and Fuchs, 2014).
The present study sought to explore the relationship between trait mindfulness and running activity in an adolescent population. Students from one school district were surveyed before and after the duration of the school’s cross-country running season, which was
conceptualized as a time when there was known to be heightened amounts of running in some of the sample. Three research questions were posed along with three hypotheses in order to gain more insight into a potential naturally-occurring relationship. First, it was hypothesized that participation in running activity over time was correlated with heightened levels of trait mindfulness. Specifically, it was hypothesized that participants in the running group would
report higher levels of trait mindfulness at the completion of the cross-country season than those in the non-running comparison group. Further, it was hypothesized that runners will exhibit an increase in trait mindfulness from the start of the cross-country season to the completion, and that non-runners will not experience any significant change in mindfulness levels. The second hypothesis stated that that the amount of running per week would be positively correlated with ending levels of trait mindfulness. The last hypothesis posited that the presence of music while running would be negatively correlated with trait mindfulness.
Results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that running was not shown to be a significant predictor of mindfulness change. Participation in other mindfulness-based activities was also not revealed to be a significant predictor, but initial level of trait mindfulness was. A follow-up analysis of mindfulness change among those with lower initial levels of trait mindfulness indicated that running was found to significantly influence mindfulness change, such that non-runners experienced a greater change in their mindfulness scores. There were noted limitations that may have contributed to the lack of support for the first two hypotheses, such as lack of experimental control, lack of diversity among the sample population, reliance on self-report data, and participant attrition.
The third hypothesis was supported in the findings of the one-way, between subject analysis of variance (ANOVA), which explored the relationship between the frequency with which participants listen to music while running and their levels of trait mindfulness. Results showed that those who never listened to music while running reported significantly higher post- running-period mindfulness scores than those who sometimes, often, almost always, or always listened to music while running. Further, those who sometimes listened to music while running had significantly higher post-running-period mindfulness scores than those who often, almost